Rotatable article holder

ABSTRACT

The article holder of the invention includes a pedestal on which a rack is rotatably mounted. The rack has a base portion and an upper wall between which is mounted a plurality of right-angle dividers for forming radial spaces in the rack to receive articles. The dividers have a novel mounting arrangement in the rack whereby they are adapted to be adjusted selectively around the rack to receive articles of varying thicknesses. The dividers are mounted on an inclined portion of the base of the rack so as to tilted inwardly to form a tapered construction facilitating easy viewing of the articles as well as easy insertion and removal of such articles, between the dividers.

United States Patent Alvin C. Ingebo Tigard, Oreg. 97223 824,426

May 14, 1969 Mar. 16, 1971 lnventor Appl. No. Filed Patented ROTATABLE ARTICLE HOLDER 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 211/43 A47b 65/00 Field of Search 21 1/40, 43, 78,163;312/11, 12

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,397,940 11/1921 Vastola 312/11 2,525,538 10/1950 Gamin.. 211/78X 2,690,843 10/1954 Ament 211/40 3,170,741 2/1965 Richards 312/12 3,297,372 1/1967 Brader 312/45 3,417,873 12/1968 Leptrone 211/77 Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers, Jr. Attorney-Eugene M. Eckelman ABSTRACT: The article holder of the invention includes a pedestal on which a rack is rotatably mounted. The rack has a base portion and an upper wall between which is mounted a plurality of right-angle dividers for forming radial spaces in the rack to receive articles. The dividers have a novel mounting arrangement in the rack whereby they are adapted to be adjusted selectively around the rack to receive articles of varying thicknesses. The dividers are mounted on an inclined portion of the base of the rack so as to be tilted inwardly to form a 4 tapered construction facilitating easy viewing of the articles as well as easy insertion and removal of such articles, between the dividers.

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'ALVIN c. INGEBO a VENTOR.

ATTY.

PATENTEUHARI s l97| SHEEI 2 OF 2 ALVIN C. INGEBO %%VENTOR ATTY.

ROTATABLE ARTICLE I-IOILDEIR This invention relates to new and useful improvements in article holding devices.

According to the present invention and forming an important objective. thereof, a rotatable article holder includes a plurality of upright dividing members between which articles are adapted to be removably supported, and including structure wherein said dividers can be adjusted to selected spacing from each other to provide article receiving spaces of different widths.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotatable holder for articles which supports articles in a tiled position to facilitate easy insertion and removal thereof.

Still another project is to prove a rotatable holder for articles of the type describe which is designed to compactly hold a plurality of articles and further to provide such a holder which is attractive in appearance.

The invention will be better understood and additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description which illustrates preferred forms of the device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the rotatable article holder of the present invention;

FIG. 2'is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4'is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating an alternative structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now in particular to the drawings, and first to FIGS. I, 2 and 3, the article holder of the invention comprises a pedestal or stand Ill and a rack 12 supported on the pedestal. The pedestal comprises a hollow base portion 14 having outer surfaces I6 forming ahexagonal configuration. Surfaces I6 serve as securing surfaces for legs 18, as by means of screws passing through the wall of the hollow core member 14.

Core member 14 supports on its upper end an integral base plate 22 on which the rack portion 12 is rotatably supported. Such rotatable support is accomplished by bearing means comprising a pair of opposed plates or races 24 and 26 having ball bearings 28 therebetween, the bearing plate 24 being secured to the base plate 22 and the plate 26 being secured to a base portion or bottom wall 30 of the rack I2.

Bottom wall III) of the rack I2 is circular and supports integrally'and centrally thereof a cone-shaped hollow core 32. Supported integrally on the bottom wall 30 of the rack I2 adjacent its outer edge are a pair of annular members 34 and 36 separated by a space 38. As best seen in FIG. 2, the upper surfaces of the annular members 34 and 36 are inclined downwardly toward the inner portion of the rack a'nd secured on the upper surface of the member '34 and 36 overlying a portion of the space 33 is a plate 40 having an outer downwardly angled flange'Sl lying along the outer edge of the annular member 343 and the bottom wall 30 of the rack portion. Another plate 42 is secured on the upper surface of member 36 and overlies a portion of the space 38 opposite from the overlying portion of plate 40. A space 43 is thus provided between the inner edges of plates 40 and 42 which is of less width than the space 38 between members 34 and 36.

A plurality of dividers 44 are supported on the plates 40 and 42, and as best seen in FIG. 2, each divider in side elevational view right angular in configuration having an upright portion 46 and an inwardly turned bottom portion 48, A web 50 is secured in the corner between the divider portions 46 and 48 for reinforcement. As best seen in FIG. 3, the inward turned portions 48 of the dividers are tapered to a smaller dimension toward their inner ends.

According to the invention, the dividers are secured in selected and changeable positions around the rack, and in one form of such securement, screws 52 extend down through the inturned portions 48, through the space 43 and engage enlarged flat nuts 54 disposed in the space 3% between the tapered members 34 and 36 and engageable under the plate til. To adjust or position the dividers, the screws 52 are merely loosened, and after adjustment of the dividers is made the screws are tightened to hold the dividers in a fixed position. Preferably, the nuts 54 have rectangular bosses 58 on their top surfaces which are arranged to project into groove 43 and prevent the nuts from rotating when the screws are tightened or loosened.

In an alternative construction, FIG. 4, a single plate 40' ex tends across both members 34 and 36 and has annular rows of holes 60. In this embodiment the portion 48' of the dividers 4 has one or more holes 62 for receiving the screws 52. Screws 52, similar to FIG. 1, are engageable by nuts 54, not shown, disposed under the bottom surface of plate 40, or of course holes 60 may comprise threaded holes for direct engagement by the screw 52. In a preferred arrangement two rows of staggered holes 60 are provided, and the holes 62 in the dividers are also staggered with relation to each other thus give an infinite number of adjustments.

The rack 12 has a top plate or wall 64 which preferably is removable in order that easy access can be had to the mounting means of the dividers if necessary, namely, the screws 52, and for this purpose catches 66 are operatively connected between such top wall and a plate 68 secured within the coneshaped core 32. The top wall 64 is thus readily removed by forceful vertical lifting movement.

Divider portions 46 have opposed side notches 70 intermediate the upper and lower ends thereof to facilitate grasping an article placed in the area between dividers.

The present rack was designed for holding a set of books, but it is to be understood of course that any similar article could be held. FIGS. 2 and 3 show in phantom lines books 72 placed in the rack. The dividers are of a selected dimension such that the books in their supported position will project atleast outwardly to a portion of the notch 70 in order that they may be easily grasped for removal.

In many sets of books, such as encyclopedias, some of the volumes are thicker than others, and the present rack can readily be customized to a particular set of books by positioning the dividers selectively in spaced relation. Such is accomplished by operation of the screws 52. The present rack is attractive in appearance and in addition presents the articles for easy viewing of the edge portions thereof, also for easy removal and replacement of the articles. Further yet, the rack can be rotated for easy access to any one of the articles.

It is to be understood that the forms of my invention herein shown and described is to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. An article holder comprising:

a. a pedestal;

b. a rack rotatably supported on said pedestal;

c. a base portion on said rack disposed in approximately a horizontal plane;

d. a plurality of dividers supported on said base portion and being spaced circumferentially around the said base portion;

e. said dividers having an angular shape with a portion thereof projecting upwardly and a portion projecting,

radially inwardly for support on said base portion;

f. means engageable with the radial projecting portion of said dividers and said base portion for connecting said dividers to said base portion in circumferential adjusted position to locate said dividers at selected spaced distances from each other around said base portion.

2. The article holder of claim I wherein:

. said inclined portion being inclined downwardly in an inward direction of said base portion and supporting the radial projecting portion of said dividers whereby said dividers are tilted inwardly to form a rack tapered to a smaller dimension toward the top;

. said means connecting said dividers to said base portion comprise screws facilitating circumferential adjusting movement in said base portion.

The article holder of claim 1 wherein:

. said base portion has an inclined circumferential portion on the top thereof around the outer edge;

. said inclined portion being inclined downwardly in an inward direction of said base portion and supporting the radial projecting portion of said dividers whereby said dividers are tilted inwardly to fomi a rack tapered to a smaller dimension toward the top;

. said means connecting said dividers to said base portion comprising a circumferentially' slotted plate forming said inclined portion of said base portion;

d. and fastener means extending through the radial portion of said dividers of said slot and having slidable interlocking engagement on the undersurface of said plate. 

1. An article holder comprising: a. a pedestal; b. a rack rotatably supported on said pedestal; c. a base portion on said rack disposed in approximately a horizontal plane; d. a plurality of dividers supported on said base portion and being spaced circumferentially around the said base portion; e. said dividers having an angular shape with a portion thereof projecting upwardly and a portion projecting radially inwardly for support on said base portion; f. means engageable with the radial projecting portion of said dividers and said base portion for connecting said dividers to said base portion in circumferential adjusted position to locate said dividers at selected spaced distances from each other around said base portion.
 2. The article holder of claim 1 wherein: a. said base portion has an inclined circumferential portion on the top of around the outer edge; and b. said inclined portion being inclined downwardly in an inward direction of said base portion and supporting the radial projecting portion of said dividers whereby said dividers are tilted inwardly to form a rack tapered to a smaller dimension toward the top.
 3. The article holder of claim 1 wherein: a. said base portion has an inclined circumferential portion on the top thereof around the outer edge; b. said inclined portion being inclined downwardly in an inward direction of said base portion and supporting the radial projecting portion of said dividers whereby said dividers are tilted inwardly to form a rack tapered to a smaller dimension toward the top; c. said means connecting said dividers to said base portion comprise screws facilitating circumferential adjusting movement in said base portion.
 4. The article holder of claim 1 wherein: a. said base portion has an inclined circumferential portion on the top thereof around the outer edge; b. said inclined portion being inclined downwardly in an inward direction of said base portion and supporting the radial projecting portion of said dividers whereby said dividers are tilted inwardly to form a rack tapered to a smaller dimension toward the top; c. said means connecting said dividers to said base portion comprising a circumferentially slotted plate forming said inclined portion of said base portion; d. and fastener means extending through the radial portion of said dividers of said slot and having slidable interlocking engagement on the undersurface of said plate. 